Dynamics GP End of Life: Key Dates and What They Mean for Your Business
- Abhisar Sharma
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
This is Part 1 of our 5-part series on migrating from Dynamics GP to Business Central.
Read the full series:
Part 1: GP End of Life Dates and What They Mean (you are here)
Part 4: GP to BC Migration: Automated vs. Manual - Which Path Is Right for You?
Part 5: The Most Common GP to BC Migration Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
For years, Microsoft Dynamics GP was the reliable backbone of thousands of small and mid-sized businesses. It handled financials, inventory, and operations with steady consistency. But that chapter is closing - and faster than many organizations realize.
Microsoft has officially set GP on a path to retirement, and the timeline is tighter than it looks. Here is what you need to know.
The Key Dates
Date | Milestone | What It Means for You |
April 1, 2025 | End of new perpetual license sales | New perpetual licenses are no longer available |
April 1, 2026 | End of new subscription license sales | New subscription licenses are no longer available |
December 31, 2029 | End of enhancements, regulatory updates, and technical support | No new features, no compliance updates, no general technical help |
April 30, 2031 | End of security updates | Your system becomes vulnerable; subscription-based usage must stop |
The "Soft" End of Life Is Already Here
Most conversations about GP focus on 2031, but the reality is that the system has already entered its decline. Microsoft stopped adding major new features after the October 2022 release. That was the signal - not a pause, but a full stop on GP's evolution.
What this means practically: if you are still on GP today, you are already running on a frozen platform. Every year that passes, the gap between what GP can do and what modern cloud ERP systems offer gets wider. You are not just running a legacy system - you are falling further behind.
Why Waiting Until 2031 Is a Risk
It is tempting to treat 2031 as the deadline and plan accordingly. But there are three reasons why waiting is riskier than it appears.
The ecosystem is shrinking now. As Microsoft shifts investment toward Business Central, the network of consultants, partners, and ISVs who support GP is contracting. The closer you get to 2031, the harder and more expensive it becomes to find experienced GP support. Companies that wait will be competing for a shrinking pool of expertise - at exactly the moment when everyone else is also scrambling to migrate.
Regulatory and compliance updates stop in 2029. If your business operates in a regulated environment - payroll, sales tax, multi-jurisdiction compliance - the 2029 date matters as much as 2031. After that, GP will not receive updates to reflect new tax rules, reporting requirements, or regulatory changes. You will be on your own.
Migration timelines are longer than most people expect. A typical GP to Business Central migration takes three to six months for straightforward implementations, and longer for complex ones. If you begin planning in 2030, you are cutting it extremely close - and doing so at a time when every other GP customer is trying to do the same thing simultaneously, driving up partner costs and availability.
What the Timeline Is Really Telling You
The phased withdrawal of new licenses, followed by the end of support, followed by the end of security updates, is Microsoft communicating its direction clearly. The destination is cloud-first ERP - specifically Dynamics 365 Business Central.
The good news is that companies starting their evaluation now have time to do this properly. You can assess your current environment thoroughly, clean your data, rethink your processes, choose the right partner, and go live on a schedule that works for your business - not one driven by an emergency.
The companies that will struggle are those that treat 2031 as a distant problem. By the time it feels urgent, the options will be fewer, the costs will be higher, and the implementation runway will be shorter.
Next in This Series
In Part 2, we look at what Business Central actually offers - and why it is not just a GP replacement, but a genuinely different class of system.
Evolve Strategy & Capital Inc. is a senior Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central consulting firm based in Calgary, specializing in inventory-intensive organizations. We have completed 30+ Business Central implementations across 10+ industries. If you are starting to think about your GP migration, we offer a no-obligation discovery conversation to help you understand your options.
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